


Before and During

by Kalorii



Series: Kalorii's FF7 A/B/O AU [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alpha Rude, Alpha Zack Fair, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Rewrite, Crossdressing, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Not Beta Read, Omega Aerith Gainsborough, Omega Cloud Strife, Omega Tifa Lockhart, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Rude/Reno, One-sided Zack Fair/Cloud Strife, mentions of human experimentation, omega reno
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:14:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24200410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalorii/pseuds/Kalorii
Summary: This will be a collection of one-shots written within the Alternate Universe created where Zack Fair survived mixed with Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics. This is not a full game rewrite, simply certain points of interest that I get inspiration from. Be forewarned that there will be plenty of spoilers for all points of the game.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Series: Kalorii's FF7 A/B/O AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746631
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	1. The Great "What If?"

**Author's Note:**

> This was hard to summarize...
> 
> To reiterate, what this is:
> 
> \- Alternate Universe FF7 with Zack and A/B/O dynamics  
> \- One-shots of parts in between or during major events of the game
> 
> What it is NOT:
> 
> \- A full game rewrite  
> \- It will never be a full game rewrite because that would take foreeeever  
> \- A shipping fic. There will be natural references to something like Zack/Aerith for obvious reasons.
> 
> SO. Moving on from all of that, take a read of the first part to get an indication of where I'm going with this.

Curse the rain. Zack took in a breath as he heaved Cloud up on his shoulders again. The rain had made it slippery which hadn’t made it easier for Cloud to walk on. Even if he was walking, it was barely putting one foot in front of the other. At least the blonde wasn’t too heavy.

They’d managed to slip in through the gate at Sector Seven, a place Zack wasn’t exactly familiar with. It didn’t really matter. He was exhausted, battered, and aching from fighting through the Shinra army. There had to be a place for them both to rest, and maybe for Cloud to finally get out of whatever had knocked him into his catatonic state.

“Mako poisoning and S-Cells,” he murmured to himself. He supposed it wasn’t such a mystery what had done him in.

He carefully eased his charge down, kneeling in front of the poor ex-infantryman. Zack knew that Cloud was an Omega and he never should have gone through any of what Hojo put him through. If he came out of this catatonic state, he’d likely be irreversibly damaged for the rest of his life. The experiments had now robbed him of the chance to choose a clan or to build a family.

Sighing heavily, Zack leaned back on his heels and ran his hands down his face. All of that was the least of their problems. He was glad that they were out of the eyes of Shinra’s army helicopters, but now they were deep in their territory.

Looking around, he guessed that the slums may be the last place they’d be sought out in. Once they realized that Zack had downed every infantryman in his way, the President would be furious. He wondered if Hojo would lose favour, if he even had any to begin with. He must have considering how quickly he’d swooped in and staked his claim.

Five years, lost.

A soft noise made Zack look up, seeing Cloud’s eyes fluttering open. He had such intense eyes now, mako-blue as every SOLDIER’s was. They weren’t exactly focused, but it was a step in the right direction.

“Hey, there you are,” he said, keeping his voice quiet. He reached up, putting his hands upon Cloud’s cheeks.

Making another noise, Cloud’s eyes darted around until they locked onto Zack. “There…you are,” he repeated.

This was bad. Cloud was definitely not all there and he could only guess at what kind of mental damage had been inflicted on him. It could be that he’d never be right again.

Cloud leaned against one of Zack’s hands, frowning and reaching up to brush gloved fingers over what Zack could only imagine were cuts on his face. “You’re…hurt.”

Just a tiny bit of cognizance made Zack smile a bit wider. “Yeah, got into a scrap with some of Shinra’s goons. Don’t worry about it.”

This time, Cloud paused a moment. “Worry,” he murmured. He was obviously working hard to get out of the mako poisoning that had taken him. Cloud practically nuzzled against Zack’s hand as if he was seeking comfort, which wasn’t unlikely.

Shit, he was kind of cute. Not exactly the kind of thought he needed to have at the moment, but it ran through his head regardless. He’d always thought that Cloud was attractive but had never tried to make a move on him. Any Alpha knew that male Omegas were harder to get close to at times. If Cloud had ever made it known he was interested in him, Zack likely wouldn’t have been able to deny him. Even with Aerith…

As much as he wanted to see her again, he knew that he couldn’t drag Cloud all the way to Sector Five like this. Sector Seven was closer and surely there had to be someplace to crash, even if it was in a dirty little corner somewhere.

“Come on, we need to go a little further,” Zack said, moving to help Cloud to his feet.

Cloud protested but did his best to get his feet underneath him. He leaned against Zack with a gentle groan, now walking a bit better than he had been. “Where…?”

“Midgar. Sector Seven’s slums, actually,” he replied, glad that he was finally getting some responses from his friend. “We finally made it.”

Giving a sigh that may have been one of relief, Cloud fell silent again. They walked up to the train station before Zack needed a break, knowing that they weren’t far from Sector Seven proper. It was late so it was quiet, something he was thankful for as the station was empty.

Barking made Zack look over as he helped Cloud to sit against the train platform. “Hey, pup,” he said. The dog barked once more then looked behind itself at someone who was approaching. “…Tifa?”

The woman’s eyes went wide as she saw the two, gently chasing away the dog who had gone up to sniff at Cloud. Tifa looked up to Zack, squinting a moment before recognition hit her. “The SOLDIER who came to Nibelheim,” she whispered. “Zack, wasn’t it?”

She remembered after all this time. He nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. It was about time that they had some luck coming their way after all of the shit that had been thrown at them. “Hate to impose after we’ve just met again, but would you have a place to crash?” He turned to Cloud who had looked up with unfocused eyes when he heard speaking. “He needs rest and so do I.”

Tifa finally noticed Cloud, kneeling down beside him. “Cloud?” she asked quietly.

Eyes fluttering slightly, Cloud tipped his head. “Tifa?” he replied.

“It _is_ you! What happened? Are you hurt?” Tifa began to rapid-fire questions until Zack interrupted.

“It’s a long, long story. He’s got mako poisoning and he’s been pretty catatonic until we got to Midgar.” Zack went to the other side of Cloud, looking with worry at his friend. “We’ll both be glad to tell you anything you want to know, but I think we could both use a nice bed and maybe some food.”

Though Tifa was clearly wanting to know more, she nodded. “There’s an apartment you can use, but it’s only got one bed.” She stood up, watching as Zack helped Cloud to his feet. Concern was painted all over her face. “This is really bad, isn’t it?”

Zack made a soft noise of assent, feeling everything start to catch up to him already. “I hope he doesn’t react badly to knowing he’s got mako in his system.”

The trio walked slowly through Sector Seven, eyes turning towards them as they did. Zack could only imagine what they looked like with his own battle injuries and Cloud barely able to stand on his own two feet. They weren’t your usual topsiders that had wandered down to the slums, they looked like they walked through hell.

Well, in his mind he was sure that was what it looked like. It _felt_ like it, that was for sure.

Entering the apartment, Zack eased Cloud into the bed, helping to remove his boots before getting his feet up. To his surprise, Cloud actually responded to the comfortable surface, groaning as he snuggled into the mattress.

“He’s got the bed,” Zack said, letting out a soft chuckle. He turned to Tifa who smiled sadly at him. “Thanks, Tifa. I promise I’ll fill you in as much as I can later.”

She nodded, turning to leave before stopping. “I’ll make sure to bring you something to eat and drink.” Her eyes turned to Cloud who now appeared to be sleeping rather than staring blankly into whatever hell he’d been trapped in. “If you need anything, come to the Seventh Heaven bar. That’s where I work.”

Tifa left and Zack sat down heavily on the floor. He laughed softly as the name of the bar sunk in. He’d named that place years ago, even remembered the man who was always guarding extra scrap lumber to build it. The thoughts only reminded him of the years that he’d now lost. He no longer knew the world he lived in.

He was sure he drifted off, a soft knock at the door waking him. Instinctively, he grabbed his sword but paused, remembering where he was. Shaking his head, he went to the door and opened it to see a tray of food, bottles of water, and even some healing potions. As he looked outside, he saw Tifa skipping down the stairs and back to wherever she got the supplies from, he guessed.

Zack took the tray inside, setting it down and gladly helping himself to one of the potions. Next on his agenda was the breakfast sandwich and a bottle of water. He settled in for a much-needed breakfast, eyes finally turning to the bed.

Cloud must have woken up from the knock and sat up in bed, one hand on his head. He turned to look at Zack, offering a shaky smile. “Hey.”

It was one word but it made Zack smile widely, nodding to his friend. “Hey. Sorry, didn’t get the license plate of the truck that hit you.”

Laughing gently, Cloud fell back down onto the bed. “Everything’s a mess.” Zack supposed he meant in his head. “Did we see Tifa?”

“Sure did. She brought us breakfast, too.”

Turning his head slowly, the blonde hummed then moved to sit up again. He was definitely doing better even if he was taking it slow. They didn’t have to run at the moment so Zack was in no hurry. He still helped by passing the food and drink over to his friend, watching him gulp down the water.

“Cloud, there’s a lot of things you need to know,” Zack murmured.

It was brighter eyes that turned to him and he could finally see the emotions there. “What happened to us, Zack?” Cloud’s words were still slow and measured, but he was definitely aware of what was going on. “I remember…”

He trailed off, looking down at himself and suddenly registering what he was wearing. Cloud tugged at the shirt, furrowing his brow. Zack could practically see the confusion, the wondering if he’d missed a lot more than he thought. Questioning eyes looked up at the Alpha, nearly breaking Zack’s heart in the process.

“It was all I could find. Your clothes were soaked in mako and I didn’t think you’d get better if you kept wearing them.” Zack’s lips tugged up into a slight smile. “It looks good on you, doesn’t it?”

Cloud made a noise of surprise, clearly figuring out what Zack had said. “Mako? How?”

Zack told him everything. Hojo taking them prisoner, using Cloud as an experiment, and the five years that they’d lost due to it all. When he was done, he noticed that his friend simply sat there, holding the bottle of water in one hand. It was a lot to take in and process, especially for a mind that was already under a lot of stress.

Slowly, carefully, Cloud got to his feet and took shaky steps to the bathroom sink. He leaned on it, looking at his reflection. The mako-blue eyes reflected wonder before it turned to a horrific realization. Cloud touched his stomach and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what had crossed his mind. Not only had he lost years of his life, he’d also lost his Omega side.

“Damn Shinra,” Cloud muttered quietly. He punched the side of the sink before he pushed off from it.

A knock came at the door, making both of them look over. It was Zack who got to his feet while Cloud went to sit back down on the bed. Tifa stood on the other side of the door, a bright smile appearing as she saw Cloud sitting up.

“How are you?” she asked both of them, coming inside and closing the door.

Cloud shook his head, leaving Zack to shrug. “Better. Not good, but better.” He nodded to the tray. “Thanks for the breakfast and those potions. Hit the spot.”

Tifa was distracted as she went to sit down beside Cloud, putting a hand on his shoulder. “What happened to you? How did you get here?”

“Zack dragged me here,” Cloud replied. “After Nibelheim…”

“You weren’t there,” she said, looking to Zack.

Cloud turned to look at her then reached up to cover the top half of his face. “Yes, I was.” He dropped his hand into his lap. “You know I would never have made it to SOLDIER. They don’t accept Omegas in SOLDIER because of the process.”

She narrowed her eyes for a moment before putting her hands to her mouth. “You were the infantryman! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was embarrassed. I set out to become a SOLDIER and no one told me that was impossible, not even my own mother.” Cloud sighed softly, flexing a hand before he reached up to his head with a grunt. “Didn’t matter, went through the process anyway.”

Zack folded his arms across his chest, leaning against the wall. “Not like it was your choice. We were taken by Hojo for whatever the hell he wanted us for. I didn’t stick around to read his notes.” He frowned lightly, watching as Tifa rubbed at Cloud’s back. “They rebuilt Nibelheim.”

Both of Cloud and Tifa looked up in shock. It’d been a shock to him, too. The first hint that something was different, that they’d lost more time than he’d realized.

“We both lost five years of our life. I don’t even know what he did to us,” Zack sighed.

Cloud shook his head. “We know what he did to me.”

There was something different about Cloud now. He was rightfully upset about what he’d gone through, but there was a hardness that wasn’t there before. It was a shame to see it considering how kind and gentle he’d been. Shinra had taken so much from both of them that it didn’t surprise him that it’d hardened the Omega’s heart.

Tifa got to her feet, taking Cloud’s hands in her own with a smile. “Come on, let’s go catch up in the bar. There’s someone I’d like you two to meet.”

Cloud stood up, his legs still trembling beneath him. Though he was more aware, he wasn’t entirely ready to start swinging a sword around. Zack was at least glad to see him up and walking around. However, Cloud eventually sat back down heavily, holding his head again.

He opened his eyes again slowly, shaking his head. “Not ready for that yet.”

Zack pressed his lips together and tilted his head to Tifa. “Hate to ask, but I think he could use some time. Too much information dumped at once.”

There was disappointment on Tifa’s face but she smiled lightly. To Zack’s surprise, she put her hands upon Cloud’s cheeks. “Feel better. You’re safe now and it’s so good to see you again. I’ll make sure you get everything you need.”

She pressed a gentle kiss to Cloud’s forehead then turned and put a hand on Zack’s arm. “Take care of him, please,” Tifa murmured as she left.

Once she was gone, Cloud looked up at Zack. “Something’s wrong. I hear…whispers.”

As if he didn’t have enough to deal with. Zack moved to sit on the bed beside his friend. “Cloud, I didn’t tell you everything. You have Jenova cells inside of you now, too. I don’t know what effect that has on someone not made of them like Sephiroth was.”

“Sephiroth,” Cloud murmured. “Everything feels off. I don’t know what to think anymore.”

Banking on his friend not remembering, Zack smiled lightly. “Cloud, did you want to take on jobs with me? Thought of it on the way, I think we’d make good – “

“Mercenaries. That was in the truck, right?” For the first time since he’d awoken, Cloud smiled. “Yeah, we could do that. I wouldn’t be as good as you are.”

“Once we get you a sword, you’ll be just fine. You’re built like someone in SOLDIER and I know you have some training.” When Cloud still shied away slightly, Zack patted the other’s back. “And if you don’t feel confident, we can always practise against each other.”

Cloud had taken the moment to finally finish his breakfast, taking a deep breath as he did. “If you’re sure, I’ll do it.” He closed his eyes, his head nodding a little as he did. Jolting himself awake, he chuckled. “Just not right now.”

Getting off the bed and going back to where he’d slept on the floor, Zack leaned against the wall. “We’ll be the best mercenaries ever, just you wait and see.”

Maybe after a good, long nap.


	2. Internal Conflicts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What to do when you're blocked for ideas on a fic and have ideas for another? Write one over the other, obviously.
> 
> Yet another part of the game I had strong inspiration to write for. It'd be rather different to have a trio in Sector Five, including Zack meeting up with Aerith once more. I went with Cloud's perspective mostly because I missed writing for him, but also because it made the most sense. I glossed over a lot of things and pretty much all of it is from the Remake. As I said before, I have a massive mix of everything in my head.
> 
> Also, yes, there's some shippy stuff in here. Enjoy the pining and sadness. Still accepting prompts if you've any ideas, otherwise I'll keep writing random sections as I get inspiration for them.

Watching them was…interesting.

Since they’d fallen into the Sector Five slums, Zack had been more excited than Cloud had ever seen him before. Of all the places to land, they had to land in the flowerbed belonging to Aerith Gainsborough who had been waiting for Zack for years.

It was obvious the two were crazy for one another, though Aerith’s mother wasn’t exactly excited to finally meet him. She’d asked the two men to leave without Aerith overnight, but Aerith was her own woman and had intercepted their escape. Deciding to avoid Wall Market, the trio went into a more dilapidated area of Sector Six, cutting across it to get to Sector Seven.

Cloud followed the two lovebirds, barely listening to their chatter. He was a third wheel at the moment and they’d more than earned their time together. It was impossible for Cloud to understand what it would be like to reunite with someone you loved that much after four years.

As Zack and Aerith climbed to the top of a playground installment, Cloud leaned against it at the bottom.

“I still can’t believe you’re okay. I wrote so much and had no idea if you got my letters,” Aerith said.

“I got the last one. It was from the Angeal copy, the one who looked after you.” There was a rustling and Zack likely pulled the letter out of his pocket. “I don’t know where the other letters are.”

Wow, letters and undying love. It wasn’t that Cloud was jealous – okay, he was plenty jealous. He chalked it up to his Omega side that he’d ignored for far too long. How could anyone blame him for that? Being a male Omega made it harder to find someone to settle down with and now it was going to be impossible. For a while, he could at least listen in on what an Alpha and Omega relationship sounded like.

Just as they were getting ready to leave, the heavy door to Sector Seven opened and a chocobo-drawn carriage exited. Cloud watched it curiously until he saw who was in the back.

“Tifa!” he called, running to leap up and grab the back of the carriage. “Tifa, what…?”

“Cloud, you’re alive! Is Zack okay?” When he nodded, she breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m on my way to see Don Corneo. You should go back to Sector Seven and catch up with the others. They’ll tell you what’s going on.”

Cloud hesitated. “Let me come with you.”

She hushed him and shook her head. “I can take care of myself; you know that. Get back to Sector Seven, I’ll be fine.”

Reluctantly, Cloud nodded and let go of the carriage as it continued down the path which led to Wall Market. He had no idea who Don Corneo was, but, considering how provocatively Tifa was dressed, he could take a guess. Being in Wall Market made it more obvious that things were bad.

Sighing softly, he turned around to see Zack and Aerith standing a short distance behind him. He blinked for a moment, unused to being the target of their gazes. “What?”

“You’re not really going back to Sector Seven, are you? Go after her,” Zack said, nodding to where the carriage had already passed.

“She’s a big girl, she can take care of herself,” Cloud protested. Besides, what good would he possibly do if he interfered?

Aerith shook her head, coming closer to turn Cloud around and started pushing him in the direction of Wall Market. “You don’t know the Don or Wall Market. It doesn’t matter how strong she is, she’s in trouble.”

“Okay, I’m going,” Cloud groused, falling into step beside Aerith. “Don’t get the wrong idea. Tifa and I are both Omegas so it’s not like that.”

She made a soft noise of surprise as if finally noticing that he was indeed a male Omega. “I’m sorry, you’ve been following the both of us around and we haven’t said a word to you.”

He shook his head and shrugged. “It’s fine. Zack’s always been head over heels for you. I’d be more surprised if he didn’t want to spend more time with someone he loved.”

Wall Market was something else. Not having even visited Midgar before, Cloud had no idea such a place existed underneath the plates. It was loud and it simply felt like no one gave a single damn about anything other than their pleasure. He could see why the two had insisted he went after Tifa. Lover or not, she was definitely in trouble.

Of course, once they went to see Don Corneo, they were stopped and told that not just anyone could get in. Cloud wasn’t exactly enthusiastic for Aerith to offer herself, but Zack was even less so.

“It makes sense!” she insisted.

“You’re the one who told us we didn’t know the Don. If all he’s doing is gathering up Omegas, you only get one guess what he’s going to do to them.” Zack growled softly, making Cloud take a step back. “Sorry.”

Cloud realized what he’d done and then sighed softly. “Don’t worry about it. Zack’s right, but Aerith has a point. We’ll never get in ourselves, we’re guys.”

“He does seem to be after Omegas, though,” Aerith said, looking pointedly at Cloud.

“No way,” Cloud said, shaking his head. “Besides, he wants female Omegas, not males. It’s obvious from how things are set up here.”

Zack growled softly again, folding his arms over his chest. “I still don’t like the idea. What if he’s some kind of super powered Alpha or something?”

“If he were, he’d have all the Omegas he wants without trying. Aerith and I could stay on our feet at his mansion, so he’s probably a low-level Alpha that’s using power to get what he wants.” Cloud made a face at the thought before he shook his head. “I don’t like the idea, either, but we don’t have many options. A full assault would be stupid and he could easily kill Tifa if we’re not careful.”

Zack hated it much more than Cloud did, especially when they had to find one of the trio willing to take Aerith on and give her an endorsement. It _was_ mildly amusing to watch how Zack had to swallow his Alpha pride and allow Aerith to make her own decisions. At least the colosseum was entertaining, and they soon had Madam M making Aerith as beautiful as she could be.

“I still hate it,” Zack muttered. “There’s going to be another candidate, too.”

Cloud made a noise of assent as they waited outside. “The one from Andrea Rhodea. If they come from the Honeybee Inn, they’re bound to be stiff competition.” When he saw Zack raise an eyebrow, he shrugged. “What? I can’t find someone beautiful?”

Shaking his head with a slight smirk, Zack chuckled. “No, it’s just that I didn’t think you even paid attention to things like that. You’ve been so serious lately.”

He supposed he had become a little stiff, no pun intended. Going through everything had made him look at things differently. If he were pressed to say what happened to the optimistic teenager he once was, he’d say he’d grown up. Perhaps not in the right way, but it was hard to look at things positively when his whole life had been thrown into a blender.

The two moved out of the way as someone entered the parlour, Cloud shrugging. “Things _have_ been serious lately. Since we got here, we’ve bombed two reactors and now Tifa’s trying to impress some subpar Alpha for who knows why.”

There was something in the way Zack looked at him that was confusing. Was that regret or just worry? Maybe it was both. Why he’d feel either for him didn’t make any sense. Cloud needed to get used to his new life as he had a feeling it wasn’t going to get any easier from this point.

“Oh, you’re still out here. Good.”

Madam M made them both look over as she spoke. She motioned for Cloud to join her inside while Aerith appeared behind her.

To say that Aerith was beautiful was putting it lightly. A quick glance at Zack told Cloud how he felt about her, the way his mako-blue eyes shone. Not that he didn’t look at her that way regardless, but there was something extra about it. Cloud smiled lightly, happy for his friend, old and new.

“Cloud, you’re wanted at the Honeybee Inn. In a rare showing of interest, Andrea has requested you specifically.” Madam M handed him a piece of paper before she smiled enigmatically. “I’ll be by later. Good luck.”

Furrowing his brow, Cloud went outside to join Zack and Aerith. “Uh, apparently Andrea wants to see me.”

It seemed Aerith was in on whatever was going on as she led the way to the Honeybee Inn. Her ruby red dress did look absolutely awful to walk in, but she somehow managed with grace. They were hounded by catcalls and words of admiration the whole way and Cloud was sure Zack was going to be stuck as a feral, growling Alpha for a month.

The thought made Cloud grin before they stopped at the entrance to the Honeybee Inn. He shrugged, going inside and presenting the paper he’d been given. This definitely was _not_ the kind of establishment he would normally be caught dead in. Omegas didn’t come to places like these, they were usually the centrepiece of them.

Once he was informed what he had to do, he was more than ready to walk out of there. Why Andrea had decided on him, Cloud had no idea. When had he ever given off the idea that he could dance? He was good with a sword, not with dance moves. Not that it mattered once the ladies drug him out to the stage, all but shoving him up there.

Reluctant though he was, he knew he needed to do _something_ to help Tifa. If only it didn’t involve a dance-off with someone who was far better at it than he’d ever be. He tried not to think about how Aerith was watching in the audience or where Zack had gotten to. It was harder still not to flush at Andrea’s praise. For fuck’s sake, he wasn’t some prissy, blushing Omega looking to impress someone.

Once Andrea was done, he was sure his embarrassment would never reach a higher level than it was. Walking out amongst the whole crowd that had just watched him up on stage made him want to curl up and never be seen again. Embarrassed, frustrated, and absolutely mortified, Cloud stood off to one side until he heard feet approach.

“Please don’t,” he muttered.

“I had no idea you could dance like that,” Zack said.

Cloud felt his heart do a very uncomfortable leap in his chest as he turned around. Zack gave him a full one-over while Aerith smiled widely. From the other man’s words, that meant he’d been somewhere in the audience and had seen everything.

“You’re so pretty!” Aerith gushed.

Purple and black silk dress, long blonde hair, a diamond tiara, and high heels, all adorned with roses and bows. Taking another look at himself, he made a noise of irritation. “Not a word,” he grumbled, looking at Zack who was still staring.

That alone was incredibly irritating. If all he needed was a pretty dress to get his motor running, Aerith was going to have to keep some close tabs on him. He took a few steps and was chastised by Aerith for not watching how he walked. It only took a small adjustment to make him somewhat believable and soon they were all walking back to Corneo’s mansion.

“You should probably lose the bitch face,” Zack muttered, coming up beside Cloud.

“Don’t you have someone else you should keep your eyes on?” Cloud shot back.

His jealousy was definitely doing him no favours in this case. Just a short while ago he was jealous of how Zack only had eyes for Aerith. Now that he did have Zack’s eyes on him, he couldn’t in good conscience accept it. It felt wrong, especially since he’d only gotten the attention after putting on a decent dance routine and a pretty dress.

Zack put up his hands in defense and looked off to one side. “Sorry. Can’t help it if you’re good looking.”

Feeling the heat on his cheeks, Cloud angled his head downwards. “Zack, come on. This is embarrassing enough without being told I look better all dressed up.”

He despised being a male Omega at times. How couldn’t he when something like this came up? It wasn’t that there weren’t other Alphas that had found him attractive, but that was years ago. It was all before everything was stripped from him by force, a fact that Zack was more than well aware of. That alone should have made Cloud even less attractive.

“I didn’t say that,” Zack said, shrugging. “I thought it’d make it better to be told you look good.”

“Well, it doesn’t.” Seeing his friend’s hurt look, Cloud sighed heavily. “Forget it. This is complicated for me.”

It was impossible for an Alpha to understand something from the perspective of an Omega. Things were competitive enough without being an anomaly in the gene pool. Alphas could pick and choose, but then there were female Alphas and male Omegas which confused everything. As much as he hated to admit it, the whole thing had given him more than a chip on his shoulder about it.

Aerith caught up, putting a hand on Zack’s arm. “Go easy on him, Zack. He’s embarrassed enough as it is,” she said, nodding to Cloud. “You’ll have to wait out here.”

Giving Aerith a grateful look, Cloud nodded. “They won’t let you in, but stick around. We’ll make enough of a ruckus that you’ll know when to join in.”

As Aerith ran ahead, Cloud turned to look at Zack apologetically. “I’m sorry. I know you can’t really understand and I don’t have time to give you a crash course in male Omegas.” He smiled sadly and tipped his head to one side. “Thanks, even if it took getting dressed up in roses and silk to give me a compliment.”

There was something in Zack’s eyes that Cloud simply couldn’t interpret. Eventually, the Alpha laughed softly and shook his head. “Get going, Cloud. You can’t let Aerith go in alone.”

“Right,” he said, nodding as he turned to go into the mansion.

Despite his best efforts, sometimes his Omega side liked to take over at the most inopportune times. Perhaps he should have worded it better to not suggest that he was even looking for compliments from Zack. No matter how jealous he was, he couldn’t exactly ask for something impossible. Zack was a good friend and the last thing he needed was to screw that up.

Closing his eyes, he pushed the thoughts aside as he focused on the task ahead of him. No matter what he really felt inside, he had another Alpha to impress.

A gentle shudder went up his spine as he thought about it. “Let’s make this quick,” he muttered to Aerith, stepping inside of Don Corneo’s mansion.


	3. Nighttime Musings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you can't tell, I essentially post these as I write them. They're not usually going to be long, but they're just ideas I want to write and let it build the AU I've created here.
> 
> They've also become super angsty and I kind of apologize for that. I guess I'm trying to establish Cloud's mindset and reasoning behind his retreat into himself. Sometimes, I just need to write the things in my head.
> 
> Got a few more ideas for Midgar stuff, then it'll be onto things beyond the Remake. Headcanons everywhere, beware!

Cloud yawned as he made his way outside. Tired as he was, he couldn’t find sleep after everything that had happened. Noticing that Zack wasn’t inside, Cloud was sure his friend had gone outside to enjoy the nighttime air.

Aerith’s house was one of the most tranquil places in Midgar. At night, the place practically glowed, the soft scent of flowers wreathing around it. Though not much of an expert on such things, Cloud had to say the place looked beautiful. It was nothing like Nibelheim which had already been turned into a brown and gray wasteland by the time he was born.

He walked around the garden until he came to one of the bridges over the water. There, he saw Zack leaning against the railing, watching the water flowing.

“Can’t sleep?” Zack asked, looking over as Cloud approached. He sighed softly as Cloud shook his head. “Yeah, me either.”

It was no wonder why. With Sector Seven’s plate dropping, Aerith being taken, and finding the underground research laboratory, finding sleep was going to be a task and a half. Cloud knew what it was like to lose someone, though at least Zack had a chance to see her again. It was trying to convince Aerith’s mother, Elmyra, that was the hard part.

Where Zack had been sort of at a loss how to do that, Cloud had let his anger get the better of him. It was hard not to think of Hojo and everything the man had stolen from him. They weren’t people to him; they were nothing but potential experiments.

“We’ll get Aerith back,” Cloud said, coming over to stand beside his friend. “I know I overstepped earlier – “

“You didn’t. It’s something that Elmyra needs to understand,” Zack murmured, looking over to Cloud. “You just did what I couldn’t. Thanks for that.”

Cloud nodded, looking down at the water as well. “I don’t think Hojo will hurt her, not right away. If she’s as important to Shinra as they say she is, they’re not going to let him destroy her.” He made a soft noise as he looked up to the sky. “Not like us.”

“From where I am, you and I don’t look all that destroyed,” Zack said.

Grumbling, Cloud shrugged a shoulder. “You know what I mean.”

Silence fell between them and he knew that they were both lost in their thoughts. Even though he didn’t remember his time with Hojo, there was a moment when they’d been in the lab that his mind flashed back to it. It had to have been early on, a very brief moment of awareness before he slipped into unconsciousness for years.

“Aerith never told me any of this. I understand why, but I wish she had.” Zack frowned deeply and Cloud noticed he was rolling a flower between his fingers. “Then again, I don’t know if I’d have believed her. I stayed with Shinra and believed in SOLDIER even after everything that happened with Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth.”

Cloud tilted his head slightly. “I’ve heard you mention Genesis and Angeal before. I know Angeal was the one who trained you in SOLDIER, but who was Genesis?”

Obviously not expecting the question, Zack shifted to lean back against the railing of the bridge. “He was another First Class. All three of them were best friends without even knowing that they were all products of experiments. Genesis found out first and, like Sephiroth, it broke him.”

“What happened to him? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Looking down at the flower he was holding, Zack’s eyes darkened. “I found him after I thought I’d killed him. He was twisted and had nothing left of the Genesis we were familiar with in SOLDIER.”

Which meant that Zack had been the one to kill him. Twice, at that. Shinra had taken a lot from Zack as well, yet he’d stayed with them for so much longer than Cloud did. Neither of them could even consider working for them now. Quite frankly, Cloud felt sick each time he remembered that he’d been so enthusiastic to join.

“Cloud, I’ve noticed you’ve been acting strange. Like you’re seeing things.” When Cloud didn’t answer right away, Zack looked over to him. “I noticed when we were coming here the first time. Who did you see?”

One hand gripped the railing tightly. “Sephiroth. I keep seeing him, hearing him. It’s like he’s embedded in my mind and I can’t get him out.”

Hearing about Genesis now made Cloud question whether or not what he was seeing was real. If Genesis could come back after being killed, did that mean Sephiroth could as well? The thought was disturbing in so many ways. Sephiroth had made the illusions real, so real he remembered the fire making him sweat when he’d first seen him again. The hand on his shoulder, the voice that echoed in his mind without being asleep; it all felt so real.

Zack’s hand on his shoulder made Cloud jump. “Were you ever going to tell us?”

“Tell everyone that I’m seeing things? Barret already thinks I’m weird and Tifa would be more concerned about me than she already is.” He shook his head slightly. “What if he’s still alive out there?”

Letting Cloud’s shoulder go, Zack appeared contemplative. “I was going to say that was impossible, but that’d be wrong, wouldn’t it? If Genesis could do it, Sephiroth could, too.”

It didn’t instill any confidence in Cloud about his mental stability. Since they’d arrived, the whispers had graduated to full-on hallucinations. The Jenova cells likely were the cause of it, connecting him to Sephiroth, wherever he may be.

“I never thought I’d miss when I was a kid,” Cloud said, laughing softly. “I wish I could go back and tell myself to just stay in Nibelheim.”

Zack’s mako-blue eyes showed his hesitation before he took a breath. “Mind me asking what it was like?”

He supposed he’d opened himself up for that question. Cloud shrugged gently. “I call Tifa a childhood friend, but we weren’t, not really. Both of us were the only Omegas in the town, so she had the attention of the Alphas.” Cloud made a face as he remembered. “I was the weird one. Who’d ever heard of a male Omega? No one wants that.”

Glancing over, he saw the distaste on Zack’s face. Cloud rarely smiled these days, but he managed it now, chuckling gently. “It sounds bad now, but think about it when you’re a kid in a small town. The only male Omega in the class until I got to Junon.” He looked out across the water. “I think that was the first time I didn’t feel like the weird kid.”

“Shinra sometimes had a way of bringing people together,” Zack admitted with a shrug. “For us small town kids, it was the first time we had more than five neighbours.”

Laughing softly, Cloud nodded. “You’re right.”

Thinking about his past made him think about what he’d lost as well. Cloud caught his reflection in the water, a look he was still trying to get used to. All of his childish features were gone, something he’d been familiar with before Hojo stole the years from his life.

“Now, I feel like I’m put together all wrong again. My head’s still stuck thinking I’m a teenager and everything feels…off.” He reached up, squeezing a bicep before he looked at his reflection in the water once more. “I don’t know if it makes any sense, but I feel like a doll put together from spare parts. None of them work together and I don’t even know who’s in the mirror anymore.”

Feeling Zack’s eyes on him, he looked over to him. “I think I get you a bit better now. I understand why you lost your cool with Elmyra.”

Suddenly, the moment was gone and Cloud pressed his lips together. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to dump all of that on you. You’ve got enough to worry about.”

Zack shook his head quickly. “No, I’m glad you did. I was already worried about you and I have been since we got out of Nibelheim.” He paused for a moment. “I won’t tell everyone else that you’ve seen Sephiroth. Maybe you just need more time for your mind to settle.”

Guilt nagged at him and he idly wondered why he’d decided to confide all his worries in someone who was already dealing with so much. He supposed it was because it was exactly like when he was a kid. The only one he could talk to was his mother and she was gone. Tifa was still distraught over Sector Seven and all her friends, and he couldn’t talk to Barret about things like that. Which left Zack who was already dealing with Aerith being taken by Shinra and the prospect of going to the Shinra building.

Closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, Cloud let it out slowly then nodded. “Thanks. Don’t worry too much about me. Worry about Aerith.”

Opening his mouth to reply, Zack closed it again. “I didn’t drag you all the way here for no reason, Cloud. We’re friends, of course I’m going to worry about you.” Something twitched in the Alpha’s jaw and he swallowed lightly. “Try to get some sleep.”

Cloud didn’t really like the way Zack hesitated. He didn’t need his friend to start getting so attached to him for all the wrong reasons. Of course, there was always the chance he was reading too far into it. Concern from a friend was different from attraction. It was easy to blame his still-teenaged mind on that, but he was sure there were other reasons his mind had jumped to the idea Zack was getting attached to him.

Eventually, Cloud nodded. “You should get some rest, too. I have a feeling we’ll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” He started going back to the house but stopped, looking over his shoulder. “Good night, Zack. Thanks again.”

Letting out a sigh, Zack hummed. “Don’t worry about it. Good night, Cloud. I’ll be back in bed in a few.”

Somehow, Cloud had a feeling neither of them were going to sleep tonight.


	4. Reluctant Empathy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we bump perspectives to follow Reno after his ass was handed to him by Cloud - again. As with everything in this collection, much of it is me playing with ideas and how it looks from the angle of the AU's world. The dynamics would be different in some way and I like expanding on these sort of things.
> 
> Thank you for joining me in my ramblings as I dump my thoughts on this AU into random canon scenarios.

Moving one arm, Reno grunted as pain lanced up the appendage. Then the pain became more apparent everywhere and he felt that moving was way too much effort for no reward. Perhaps opening his eyes…?

Bright lights blazed above him as the Turk opened one eye, making him close it immediately. “Shit, will someone turn out the lights?” he groused.

As if by magic, the lights were dimmed to a more acceptable level. It only took a small breath in to tell him who it was. Rude and his irritatingly enticing cologne that managed to be the only thing that pierced through Reno’s muted Omega instincts. He’d never mentioned it to him and he’d rather sit under a collapsing plate than admit he liked it.

Oh, right. The plate.

“Job’s done?” Reno murmured, turning his head to look at Rude.

“As always.”

Great. Now he felt sick in addition to feeling like he was black and blue all over. “Fuck this,” he muttered, putting one hand on his chest with a soft groan.

Then there was that Cloud guy. Dressed like a First Class, had the eyes like one, even had the moves like one, but wasn’t. The other guy with him, _that_ was a First Class. Knowing his luck, the two were Alphas in different ranks of SOLDIER. Blondie sure didn’t strike him as an Alpha, maybe an enhanced Beta or something. Whatever the hell he was, the guy left a horrible taste in Reno’s mouth. Being beaten twice by the same guy was embarrassing.

He took in a deep breath before he moved to sit up. Opening his eyes, he saw Rude looking at him, though it was impossible to see his expression. Those fucking glasses were as good as Reno’s own invisible barriers which kept everyone at arm’s length. He’d never ask him to take them off for that reason. Who knew what the man hid behind those things?

“I’m sure the big cheese is pleased,” he sighed. “Guess that’s all that matters now.”

Rude made a gentle noise, shrugging a shoulder. “Wouldn’t know, I haven’t seen him. The Urban Development team is a mess right now.”

For some reason, that _did_ make him feel a little better. Even though the people who worked there weren’t responsible for the plate dropping, they’d have their work cut out for them to fix it. Until then, it was going to be sleepless nights and more bitching at Shinra for working them down to the bone.

Slipping off of the bed he was on, Reno located his pants and pulled them on. It was pure agony, but he endured it without making a sound – for the most part. He shoved his gloves into his pocket then shouldered his shirt and jacket. Picking up his baton, he motioned for Rude to follow him.

“What about the blonde? Please tell me we got him, at least,” Reno grumbled. “Fucking SOLDIER freaks, the both of them.”

Adjusting his glasses, Rude shook his head. “Unknown. I can tell you only one of them is actually from SOLDIER. Zack Fair, First Class SOLDIER, missing for five years since an incident at Nibelheim. Not sure about Cloud or why he has the eyes of a SOLDIER.”

Reno curled his lip slightly. “The hell makes you so sure? The bastard can swing a sword like his butt buddy and even moves like him. Don’t suppose they have black market SOLDIER processes in Wall Market, do they?” he asked, arching a brow.

Rude shook his head and chuckled. “He’s an anomaly, that much I know.”

“Informative,” Reno muttered, rolling his eyes.

They walked to the windowed edge of the floor they were on, large plate glass windows showing Midgar below them. It was the fire that caught his eye, making him stop to look out over the destruction.

It made his stomach flip, just knowing how many people had been killed. He’d been the one to enter in that authorization code. It didn’t matter who pushed the button, he’d started the process. More blood on his hands that would never wash off.

He always blamed it on what he was. Even though he wasn’t obviously an Omega, he could feel it at times. His instincts were muted in regards to almost everything else, but empathy was harder to get rid of. A Turk had no room for such a thing, yet he couldn’t disable it no matter how hard he tried. He wouldn’t eat for a while, not until he was sure he could keep it down. The blonde had given him a touch of mercy by knocking him unconscious so he didn’t hear the screams echoing in his ears.

“It was a job and we did it.”

“Yeah, fuck off with that,” Reno spat, keeping his voice low. “It was overkill even for Shinra. Sector Six was an accident, this was dramatic bullshit that got the old man’s rocks off. All this to turn a few people into bloody pancakes.”

Rude knew how Reno felt about his job at times. At first, he’d kept it all to himself. Turks didn’t complain about jobs that they were ordered to do. They did the job, did it well, and fuck the consequences. It was impossible to turn off how he truly felt, so when Rude had become his partner, the man had become a dumping ground for Reno’s problems. For better or worse, the Alpha took it all in and never once breathed a word to anyone.

“And I’ll bet we didn’t even get them. They’re resourceful rats.”

Saying nothing, Rude shook his head. “Tseng got what he wanted.”

Reno’s eyes swung over to his partner, narrowing as he thought. “ _How_? We go through all this shit, destroy a whole fucking Sector to make the king happy only for us to get the girl in the end?”

“She came willingly, though Tseng admitted she had limited options. Apparently, she had a little girl with her.” Rude’s gaze returned to the window and he gently inclined his head. “The deal was the girl’s safety in return for Aerith willingly joining us as a guest.”

Fuck, he wasn’t going to eat for a week at this rate. Even if they didn’t flatten the crew they were aiming for, they had Aerith now. The worst that would happen would be the group of them going kamikaze and trying to rescue her. If the plate didn’t get them, the rest of Shinra would if they went into the building themselves.

“Remind me to avoid the science department. Hojo’s always disgusting, can’t imagine how much he’s drooling over having her here.” A shudder went through him, making the Turk wince and bite back a whine of pain.

“I doubt Hojo would let you close,” Rude said, shrugging.

Giving his partner a soft growl, Reno started walking down the hallway again. “As if I’d even try. The whole place makes me want to throw up.”

If he wanted to be honest, the entirety of Shinra made him want to throw up everything he’d eaten for his entire life as of late. Reno didn’t go into the Turks thinking that it was all rainbows and sunshine, but there were times he did question his life choices. Were he anyone else, he could have had a nice life with a fence and a kid. Now? There was no chance in hell that he was going to have that. Not with so many people who likely wanted his head on a spike.

“You’re welcome, by the way.”

Rude’s voice startled Reno out of his thoughts, making him look over. “For what?”

“For saving you from killing that woman running up the stairs,” Rude said, adjusting his glasses. “You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t feel worse if you had.”

It was true, though there were times when Reno would allow himself to get into what the job entailed. When he did, his mind would eventually catch up to him and he’d hate himself for it all over again. As with everything else, Reno was a walking contradiction that a therapist would have a field day picking apart. Rejecting his very nature down to its core even when it reared its ugly head.

He grunted in response finally, not trusting his voice. “What a lovely shitshow this is,” he muttered, punching a button on the elevator. “Sure wish I didn’t feel like a sack of bricks fell on me. Could use some time to blow off steam.”

The Alpha beside him growled softly, a muscle in his jaw tensing though he said nothing more. It was odd sometimes, observing what bothered Rude and what didn’t. Every once in a while, Reno would say something that got under his skin. It was an easy task to figure out why. A male Omega denying themselves was one thing, but a male Alpha was quite another. He had no idea how Rude handled it. There was no way a simple hand helped him. How many times had he visited Wall Market’s side streets to find some fun without strings?

“Don’t get all Alpha on me, Rude. You know I meant taking my frustration out on practise dummies.” Depressed Omega senses or not, those times he was reminded Rude was an Alpha got to him. All he had was a title between himself and the power any Alpha had over him.

The elevator doors opened and the two stepped inside, Rude pressing the button to the third basement level. “Not like you to get this worked up.”

“Not like me to get my ass handed to me twice,” he growled back.

He took a subtle glance up to where he knew the surveillance camera was, giving a quiet hint to his partner. Reno wasn’t stupid; he wasn’t about to badmouth Shinra openly with a camera hanging over him. There were precious few places one could find the privacy to speak their mind, and one of them was his room in the subterranean depths of the Shinra building. If he couldn’t relieve his stress by beating the shit out of something, he’d do it by venting his frustrations.

With a stride that was more confident than his body wanted to allow, Reno led the way to his room, only relaxing once they were inside. He tossed everything he was carrying onto his couch before easing himself into his bed.

“Nothing about any of this shit is like what we normally deal with. What the hell is the problem with everyone around here, lately?”

Saying nothing, Rude went and pulled out a chair from the table near the small kitchen Reno had. He placed it close to the bed, sitting in it and folding his arms across his chest. “Things are changing. It feels like something is being put in motion that will change what we know forever.”

Reno made a gentle noise before he laughed softly, turning his head to look at the other Turk. “Don’t get all prophetic and profound with me,” he chuckled. “You’re a lot of things, but a crystal ball viewer isn’t one of them.”

It was Rude’s turn to laugh. “Says who?”

“Says me. I don’t need more weird shit in my life.”

Taking in a breath, Reno pressed the heels of his palms to his forehead. He stretched with a soft noise, completely oblivious to the fact that he had his upper half bared in the presence of an Alpha. It was Rude, not just any Alpha who would take advantage of him, after all.

Yet…

He heard it. It was such a small noise, one that would be easily missed by anyone. Reno heard it, the gentle growl in the back of Rude’s throat. He was positive that the other Turk’s eyes were on him as well, though he was sure that was only because of his repressed Alpha instincts. Reno was no fool; he knew full well that Rude was a well-contained Alpha that could go feral if given the chance.

Not wanting to take that chance, Reno sprung up from the bed to grab his shirt, slipping it on. “Shocked the boss hasn’t summoned us to his lair yet.”

Having broken the tension, the Omega was glad to hear the gentle snort from Rude. “He’s not that much of a taskmaster. Tseng saw how I carried you into the infirmary.”

“Embarrassing much? He’s going to start questioning if his second in command still has what it takes to deal with this shit,” Reno grumbled irritably.

“Do you really think he would? You’ve been one of the best operatives for the Turks. I highly doubt a loss or two to someone who has inhuman strength will make you look bad,” Rude said, tipping his head to one side.

Sighing softly, Reno put on his jacket then fished his gloves out of his pocket. “Guess not. It sure as hell doesn’t help me, though. The more blondie kicks my ass, the worse I look.”

Rude let out a deep chuckle. “Nothing could make you look bad, Reno.”

It was as if that chuckle resonated with something Reno had buried a long time ago. How he despised being an Omega at times. Like he needed praise from an Alpha to make him feel good. All he needed was a good paycheque and a good employment record.

“Flattery will get you fucking nowhere,” Reno flung over his shoulder.

He adjusted his jacket slightly before he heard his phone ring. Pulling it out, he smirked. “Speaking of the lord on high.” Pushing the screen to answer the call, he moved to sit on the couch. “Yes, boss?”

“Good, you’re awake. If you’re well enough to walk, I need you and Rude to come to the auditing office to fill out some paperwork.”

“I get carried in here like a sack of potatoes and you want me to do paperwork? Your care and concern is so touching,” Reno lightly teased.

He heard a soft chuckle on the other side of the phone and inside of the room with him. “You’re fine. Please come when you can.”

Making a noise of assent, Reno hung up the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. “He demands our presence. Need you to fill in the gaps after that asshole swiped me upside the head.”

“I’ve got you covered.”

There was no need for thanks between them. As partners, they’d confided in one another for as long as Reno could remember. Working with Rude did help him keep sane on the job, but like hell he’d ever admit that to the Alpha’s face. He’d probably get a rush of Alpha endorphins or whatever it was from the praise alone.

“Don’t you get tired of saving my ass?”

Rude paused for a moment before he let out a soft breath. “Nope.”

And that was why he was glad he was partners with Rude.


	5. A Brief Respite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still here and writing! My mind overflows with ideas, but I finally decided to write a new chapter for this. I had some ideas hit me pretty hard after watching the Nibelheim incident part of Crisis Core once more. We're officially out of Midgar which means we're also out of Remake. There's going to be a lot of headcanons and additions from here on out. I'm still not going to be rewriting the whole game, but I felt the scene in Kalm would be drastically different with Zack present and Cloud not presenting a twisted version of events.
> 
> As for what else I'm writing, you'll have to wait a bit longer. It's twelve chapters in and still more to go. We'll see if another idea hits me for this before I manage to finish the other behemoth.
> 
> Thank you all for reading!

The entire group was exhausted. How couldn’t they be after the whirlwind they’d just been through? From infiltrating the Shinra building, rescuing Aerith, and the mad dash to get out of Midgar for good, it was a wonder they didn’t pass out the instant they put their feet on the ground. The dry, dusty land lay out ahead of them and their next destination was Kalm.

“Can’t believe I dragged us all this way only to have to go back,” Zack said, laughing softly.

Cloud smirked at his friend. “We hitched a ride in the back of some old man’s truck. I’m glad you didn’t have to literally drag me for miles.”

Aerith caught up to Zack and slapped him on the shoulder. “I thought you did!”

“H-hey, it was still a long way when you’re all banged up,” Zack defended himself.

Certain that the look in his direction was for assistance, Cloud merely smirked and held up his hands. If he wanted to impress Aerith, he needed to do it on his own. The two had been inseparable since they started on the way to Kalm and Cloud decided to fall back slightly. It wasn’t his place to be and he only felt awkward listening in on their conversation.

“They’re cute together, aren’t they?”

Looking over, Cloud saw Tifa who was watching the couple with a smile. “I guess? I spent enough time with them both to know they’re hopelessly in love.” He blinked as Tifa arched a brow. “I don’t really look at couples to see how ‘cute’ they are.”

She laughed softly, looking down briefly. “I suppose not. I’d hoped you’d have found love when you left Nibelheim. Things were better for a little while when you left, weren’t they?”

He shrugged a shoulder a little. “I wasn’t the only male Omega, if that’s what you mean. There were even a couple of Alphas who liked me, but I was still young. I didn’t want to settle into anything while I was trying to find my feet.”

Now? Cloud wasn’t sure he even wanted to entertain the thought. Things were better for him when he didn’t focus on himself or what he’d been through. Yet, when they got to Kalm, they were going to have a talk about Sephiroth and everything that happened in Nibelheim. It was about time they did, but it didn’t mean he had to talk about what happened to him directly.

“There’s Kalm. Thank god, my feet have had enough walking for one day,” Tifa sighed.

It seemed everyone else agreed as they essentially booked up the entire inn for the night. Cloud had to admit that, after the sprawl of Midgar, it felt familiar to be in Kalm. It didn’t have roaring engines or the overwhelming smell of mako. It was closer to what he grew up with, even though Kalm definitely had more people in it.

Everyone started taking up places by the time Cloud went upstairs. Zack and Aerith had decided to sit on the same bed, while Tifa took another and Barret had chosen the floor next to Red. Cloud took the last bed, sitting down on it with a heavy breath.

“So, what’s the deal with Sephiroth? Thought he died years ago,” Barret prompted.

“I thought so, too. There were news reports and everything,” Aerith said.

Zack made a face as he pulled out his phone, flipping through something. “There was an in-company notification that I ‘died’ and Cloud was mentioned in passing. Kunsel didn’t believe it for a second.”

“Of course, he wouldn’t,” Cloud said, grinning slightly. “Do you really think that he’d accept either of us died that easily? He knows better and he probably dropped bricks when he was told we were in the building.”

Aerith looked at whatever was on Zack’s phone, shaking her head. “Shinra’s worse than any of us could have imagined.”

“But Sephiroth’s the real threat.” Cloud reminded them.

Barret growled lowly. “Right. Which one of you want to fill us in on this shit? I get the idea there’s a lot of history between all of you.”

“I’ll have to go all the way back to when I was still a Second-Class SOLDIER, when Sephiroth was friends with Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley, who was my mentor in SOLDIER.” As Barret opened his mouth to say something, Zack arched a brow. “Try not to interrupt or it’ll take even longer. I’d love to go into what happened at Nibelheim, but there were a lot of things that happened before then.”

Some of what they heard not even Cloud knew. Though he’d asked about Genesis, there was so much more behind his story. Zack told them about how Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth had all been experiments started at different times. Genesis and Angeal being part of Project G while Sephiroth was part of Project S. He told them of the wound that never healed on Genesis which led to him finding out about his past and eventually telling Angeal during Zack’s mission in Wutai.

Cloud could tell he was skimming over some of the more unpleasant parts, ones that bothered him greatly. He merely sat and listened, remembering Zack’s words about how SOLDIER was a den of monsters. Were there any SOLDIERs that had been untouched by the experiments?

There were many parts of Zack’s life he glossed over, but they got what was important. All of it was what led to Sephiroth’s betrayal and subsequent destruction of Nibelheim.

“Everything in Nibelheim was fine until we got to the reactor. You saw it, didn’t you Tifa and Cloud? The name ‘Jenova’ printed over the door in the reactor,” Zack said, looking to the two.

“Yeah, I remember. That’s why it was so surprising to find the same thing here. I didn’t even know it was a ‘who’,” Tifa said, shaking her head.

“Sephiroth said that his mother was named ‘Jenova’,” Cloud said, remembering when they’d arrived in Nibelheim. It bothered him that he’d called Jenova the same thing in the Shinra building, walking as if possessed before passing out. “That’s what made him isolate in the Shinra mansion.”

Zack nodded once, bending a knee and leaning on it. “He was reading reports that were left in the building by a researcher. They seemed to talk about Jenova and the history of the Ancients. Something made him come to the conclusion that he was owed this world.”

“’In my veins flows the blood of Ancients,’” Cloud repeated.

“I woke up to find Nibelheim burning and the townspeople slain.” Zack clenched his jaw and pulled one hand into a fist.

Making a soft noise, Cloud dug into his own memories. “I was spending time with my mother. I thought you were too busy to join me, Zack. Sephiroth came in and my mother begged for my life before he put his sword through her.” The memory stung and he growled gently. “He picked me up and dragged me out of the house before setting it on fire. When I came to, I remembered seeing Tifa and her father going after Sephiroth.”

Turning on the bed, Tifa looked at Cloud sadly. “I can’t believe you were really there. I know you told me when you arrived in Sector Seven, but you really _were_ there, weren’t you?”

Nodding once, Cloud shrugged with a shoulder. “I was the one you dragged back to Nibelheim after we were ambushed by Genesis copies.”

“And who kept me out of the reactor in the first place.”

“Not that you stayed out after. You were already down by the time I got there and you shied away from me,” Zack murmured. “I don’t blame you. I tried to stop Sephiroth, but he bested me.”

Mako-blue eyes turned to Cloud, making everyone else look to him. “I had to try. I took Zack’s sword and ran Sephiroth through then tried to finish him off. He got me with his sword,” he said, reaching up to the place he knew had a thick scar front and back. “I think it was because I was so angry, but I managed to overpower him and threw him into the reactor.”

“Shit, and you say you ain’t SOLDIER?” Barret said. “If you did that, how’s he still alive? We all saw him take out the president.”

Cloud shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea, but it’s a lot like Genesis. They’re hard to kill.”

“So, how come you were gone for so long? The Nibelheim incident happened five years ago,” Aerith said, looking to Zack and Cloud.

“I passed out after limping back to where Zack was. I don’t remember anything after that, not until we were close to Midgar,” the blonde admitted.

“Shinra took us. More specifically, Hojo took us to experiment on us. I didn’t stick around to get all the details, but I apparently didn’t work out.” Zack hesitated before looking to Cloud again briefly. “Cloud got put through the SOLDIER process thanks to Hojo and I’m sure we spent all those years in stasis. We were in the basement of the Shinra mansion when I woke up…”

Zack went on to explain how Nibelheim had been rebuilt and populated by stand-ins. He said it was unlike Banora which had been left scarred and in ruins after Shinra tried to wipe it off the map. Whatever it was, they likely wouldn’t know unless they went there themselves.

“Once I got the security off our backs, we made it to Midgar before the army caught up to us. There were hundreds of them, easy. I’m not trying to pat myself on the back, but I’m surprised I managed to beat them all.” Zack looked at his hand, flexing it slightly before Aerith put a hand on his shoulder. “Can’t believe I survived.”

With no help from Cloud, no less. Though he remembered watching his friend walk away, he only remembered gunfire and screams of pain before he slipped under once more. However, he was certain that there were things Zack wasn’t telling them. He could only hope that they were unimportant details.

“That’s why you were so injured when I saw you in Sector Seven,” Tifa said. “After everything that happened in Nibelheim, I didn’t expect to see you again.”

Barret laughed, looking to Cloud. “What, did you expect that spiky ass to show up again?”

Cloud turned his head, arching a brow. “Tifa didn’t know I was there. I was dressed in my Shinra infantryman outfit so no one but Sephiroth, the other infantryman, and Zack knew I was there.” He paused, tipping his head a little. “Well, and my mother once I got the guts to see her.”

“Man, you got issues. You go back to your hometown and have to get some backbone to go see your own mother,” Barret muttered.

He wasn’t wrong, but the reasons why were his own. Cloud had been damn determined to become part of SOLDIER and coming back as only an infantryman felt like he’d failed. He’d desperately wanted to prove that he could be just as strong as any other man, but that wasn’t true at all. Even his current skill was enhanced by the Jenova cells in his body, the muscle he sported unearned but kept because of taking up the sword.

“I have my reasons, Barret. Let’s just leave it at that,” Cloud said, fixing the large man with a hard gaze. “At least I did get to see her before she died.”

That made Barret take in a breath before nodding solemnly. “Yeah, that’s good.”

“I can see now why all of you were trying to take down Shinra. They’ve hurt you all so much, it’s hard not to see them as a bigger threat to the Planet than they are,” Aerith said, looking to all of them. “I promise you, Sephiroth should be our target, but Shinra will be after him, too.”

“Don’t act like Shinra didn’t hurt you, too, Aerith,” Cloud said, looking to her. “They’ve taken something from all of us. Our loved ones, our homes, and our freedom. I want Sephiroth out of the picture, but Shinra needs to get theirs as well. It won’t bring back everything we’ve lost, but at least we can stop them from hurting more people.”

All of them were looking at him and he reached up, rubbing the back of his neck. It was still so odd being somewhere between adult and teenager. Tifa had grown up more than he’d had the opportunity to after being stuck in stasis. He highly doubted anyone but Zack even thought twice about it.

“You all have so many tales to tell,” Red piped up, flicking his tail. “Cloud is right. Things have been set in motion that may decide the very fate of the Planet. Shinra will not be able to stop Sephiroth simply by throwing their forces at him.”

“Won’t stop them from trying,” Zack grumbled. “We don’t even have any leads and Shinra could have found him by now.”

“That’s optimistic at best. Between us and Sephiroth, we didn’t exactly leave them organized,” Cloud said. “Rufus might be sitting in the throne now, but I don’t think Sephiroth is the kind of guy you can get a tracking dog on to get a trail.”

Red shook his head and flicked an ear. “I agree. I’ve tried, but the open fields are confusing.”

“Then we need to ask around town. You guys can rest, I’ll go ask the locals if they know anything,” Zack said, slipping off the bed. He heard Aerith’s noise of protest and laughed, looking over his shoulder with a wide grin. “I’ll be back, Aerith. You’ve had a really, really long day. Get some rest if you can.”

Cloud waited a moment before he got up as well. “Let me come with you. We’ll need supplies if we’re going far from here, won’t we? No convenient truck to drive us this time.”

Shrugging after a moment, Zack started heading towards the stairway. He only paused when they were well out of the inn and in front of the centre of Kalm. “You okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Cloud asked, tipping his head in confusion. When Zack simply gave him a worried look in return, the Omega sighed softly. “I feel better now that I’m away from Jenova. I’m surprised they didn’t ask me about it.”

“They trust you, even if you’re acting weird.”

Narrowing his eyes, Cloud clenched his jaw briefly. “’Weird’? I walked towards that elevator and couldn’t stop myself. I called Jenova ‘mother’. That’s a bit more than ‘weird’, don’t you think?”

Zack closed his eyes and let out a breath as if he’d expected the outburst. “Cloud, you can’t keep hiding behind the idea that you’re fine when you’re not. If I ask you if you’re okay, just be honest with me.”

“Then maybe I should stay behind and let all of you go on ahead. I’m the only one of us who’s hallucinating and being controlled.” Worry made him frown deeply, clenching his hands into fists. “What if I do something that I can’t forgive myself for?”

There was an unreadable expression on Zack’s face before he shook his head, putting his hands upon Cloud’s shoulders. “You’ll be fine. I know everything is kind of spiralling out of control, but we have a task and we need to complete it.” He offered one of those stunning smiles that could lift anyone’s spirits. “And you know we’re all with you, too.”

Eventually, Cloud could only nod in agreement, offering a gentle smile. “Right. Thanks, Zack. Let’s go see if we can find a trail to follow before nightfall.”

In the back of his mind, Cloud still feared there was something horrible to come. All he could hope was that he wouldn’t play a serious role in it all unless it was to stop it. Something told him that what happened in the Shinra building was only the beginning.


	6. The Hollow Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For better or worse, I've focused a lot on writing things that are introspective and kind of angsty. I have to admit that some of the things I'd come up with are likely to only be interesting to me. Even with knowing Cloud's future, I like exploring character thoughts and how they got to where they were. So, yeah, very much interesting for me. I'll continue to write and post regardless as maybe someone else will find them entertaining or interesting.
> 
> Thank you all for reading and your support. It means a lot to me, each and every one.

The crew collectively looked around warily as they entered the cave. Seeing the Midgar Zolom impaled so easily had unnerved them all. Zack and Cloud both knew what Sephiroth was capable of, but such a show of strength was disturbing regardless.

Winding paths were confusing, but it was easy to find their way through without getting lost. No one spoke as they went, their footsteps echoing unsettlingly off the walls. Where the open field had been a strange bout of freedom, even this was as far removed from Midgar as anything else so far. Cloud was perhaps the least affected by the changes in scenery, though Kalm had brought with it an odd bout of nostalgia. He’d never thought he’d feel nostalgic for home.

Just as they thought it was going to be an easy route, a gasp from Aerith called his attention.

“Afraid this is as far as you go,” Rude said, adjusting the glove on his left hand. “You may have given the rest of Shinra the slip, but this is the only way to keep going forward.”

“Oh, you found them!”

Zack scowled then looked up in confusion at the blonde woman who was now standing on a ledge above them. “Who the hell are you? I had no idea you guys were recruiting.”

“Her name is Elena and she’s our newest recruit,” Tseng said, coming into view from the exit of the cave system. “Hello, Zack. It’s been some time since we’ve met face-to-face, hasn’t it?”

The Alpha stood in front of Aerith, giving the Turk a hard look. “You’ve changed a lot over these five years – not for the better, either.” Zack let out a soft growl, clenching his fist. “I almost thought you were a friend, but I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less than loyalty to Shinra from a Turk.”

Cloud came to stand beside his friend, glaring up at Tseng as well. “We’re not looking for a fight, but we’ll give you one if you’re here for Aerith.”

Tseng stood there with an unreadable expression on his face. He nodded to Rude who leapt up to the small outcropping of rock to stand beside him. “Take Elena and go ahead to Junon.” Upon hearing the grunt of irritation, Tseng looked over to his subordinate. “That’s an order, Rude. I will be calling for a pick up later.”

“B-but, boss,” Elena began, biting down her protest at the look from the other Turk. “Right! Going ahead to Junon as ordered, sir!”

Whatever alternate path Elena had, she took and Rude exited the cave behind Tseng. Cloud did notice that Reno was missing and he had only to guess why. The other Turk was likely in transport as he still wasn’t fighting fit after the beating over the plate. Cloud would have felt sorry for him if he didn’t take some odd satisfaction that he’d been strong enough to be that much of a threat to a Turk.

Once they were alone in the cave, Tseng sighed softly. “My apologies, Zack. I can’t admit to some of these things in front of them, you understand that.” He shifted on his feet, his gaze softening slightly. “I tried to have Reno, Rude, and Cissnei track you down once we understood it was you Shinra was after.”

“Cissnei found us twice,” Zack admitted, folding his arms across his chest. “She let us go twice and gave us transportation. Bang up job you did finding us, by the way. The army found us and nearly killed me.”

“I’d apologize for that, but you know my hands are tied. There’s only so many ways one can undermine Shinra while being under their scrutiny,” Tseng said, shaking his head. “You should all consider laying low for now. Shinra is distracted after the disarray you left them in. Welcoming a new, younger President and now chasing after Sephiroth has put you down fairly low on their priority list.”

Aerith peeked out from behind Zack and Cloud stepped aside to let her through. “We can’t do that. Sephiroth is dangerous, Tseng. I know Rufus is chasing after the dream of the Promised Land, but Sephiroth won’t lead you to it.”

“How can you be so sure?” the Turk asked.

Zack laughed softly. “She’s the Ancient, not you or me.”

Bowing his head in what seemed like agreement, Tseng’s arms came forward, holding something in his hands. “What I really wished to do was give you this. I intercepted every letter Aerith sent you and held onto them.”

“You jerk!” Aerith protested, stamping a foot.

“Not like he would’ve got them anyway,” Barret finally piped up.

Shrugging helplessly, Zack grimaced at Aerith who still looked rather put out by the whole situation. “Barret’s got a point. If Shinra found out I was close to you, they would’ve used me to lure you out,” he conceded. “Especially if they thought we had a special connection.”

Then they would have killed him, most likely. Cloud was the only one who didn’t try to stop Zack from going up to where Tseng was. He trusted his friend to know what he was doing and Tseng truly didn’t seem to be much of a threat at the moment. Besides, anyone getting in between him and those letters would be like getting between a starving dog and food. The blonde knew better than that, especially after spending so much time with the two lovebirds.

“Thank you,” Zack said softly, taking the box of letters. “Look, I’m sorry if we get in your way. We’ve got our reasons for going on ahead.”

“Our paths take us in different directions, that’s all. I will do my best to stay out of your way, but orders are orders.” Tseng looked oddly uncomfortable at the admission before he turned away. Looking over his shoulder, he closed his eyes and nodded. “Please, take care of her.”

They waited until they heard a helicopter land then leave before deciding to go out of the cave themselves. Cloud was definitely not surprised that Aerith and Zack had been quietly chattering over the letters while they waited. He _was_ surprised that the two kept lagging behind as they tried to make their way to Junon.

“Not to interrupt anything, but would you two wait until we’ve made camp somewhere to keep looking at those?” Cloud shot over his shoulder.

They started before Zack grinned sheepishly, stowing the box for the time being. Aerith was the only one who pouted, but said nothing as they caught up to the rest of the group. Somehow, Cloud had managed to become the leader without even trying. He idly wondered if Barret and Red had the idea he was an Alpha with how he presented himself as of late. Well, he could make the most of it.

“There’s some forest around Junon and we can camp out there,” he said.

He heard the soft noise from Tifa, one of amusement. Cloud smiled lightly, knowing that it was likely amusing to her to see him giving orders. It was even more hilarious knowing that Barret generally followed him without much of a fight these days. At this point, it made some sense as he’d spent a couple of years around Junon and it wasn’t as if he _didn’t_ get wrapped up in some foolish outings now and then.

One thing he didn’t count on was the five years between his memories then and the present. Thankfully, it didn’t matter as the greenery was still around. He led them to a clearing which still bore the telltale marks of target practise in the trees.

It was dark by the time they were done setting up and Cloud gratefully sat against a tree just away from the group. He was content to eat while the rest of them chattered amongst themselves. It was hard to relate to the way Aerith and Zack interacted, as he’d already realised from the time they’d spent together in Sector Five and beyond. It was interesting, but so was every other couple he’d met through his life.

“Hey, you okay?”

Blinking, Cloud looked up to see Tifa standing beside him. “Yeah, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry every time I’m by myself,” he said, smiling lightly.

She returned the smile, moving to sit down beside him. “I’ve noticed that Zack and Aerith bother you sometimes, don’t they?”

Cloud had to work to get down his mouthful of food, coughing gently before he shook his head. “What gives you that idea?”

“Well, you didn’t exactly sound like you weren’t bothered when they were talking over the letters earlier,” Tifa said, shrugging a shoulder. “I thought you’d get past that sort of thing.”

Letting out a gentle laugh, Cloud shook his head. “And when could I ever do that? Maybe between being drilled by my sergeant or when Hojo put me into stasis?” Looking at Tifa’s face, Cloud knew he’d gone too far again. “Sorry. There’s a lot of things that I haven’t had time to get used to.”

“Sometimes, I see that you’ve changed, but there’s times when you’re still the same Cloud I remember when we were kids.” She looked over to him, eyes filled with worry. “Like you’re two different people.”

“Just a kid who never go to grow up right.” Cloud let out a heavy sigh, leaning against the tree at his back. “You had five years to grieve for Nibelheim and everyone we lost. I barely know what I am let alone who I am anymore.”

Dammit, he was doing it again. He shook his head to clear it, glancing over to Tifa. “Don’t worry about it. We have bigger things to worry about than that.”

While she didn’t look convinced, Tifa could only sigh as she looked over to Zack and Aerith who were both talking animatedly over a particular letter. “I guess I should admit that sometimes even I get jealous when I see a happy couple.”

Oh, they were going down this road now? “I’m not exactly jealous, it’s still weird to me.” He pressed his lips together, turning his head towards his friend. “How didn’t you find someone after all these years in Midgar?”

Tifa squeaked at the question, a soft flush appearing on her cheeks. “O-oh, it’s hard to meet people under the plate.”

Giving her a smirk, Cloud could only chuckle. “You didn’t even try. Johnny was drooling all over you and you were as oblivious as I can be.” As she opened her mouth to protest, he held up his hands in defense. “Not that I’d want him as my Alpha, either! I’m only saying that he couldn’t have been the only one.”

“No, he wasn’t,” Tifa said, huffing softly as she crossed her arms. “This is entirely unfair. I can’t ask you about things like this.”

“You can, but there’s not much to say,” Cloud said, shrugging. “I was too young for that sort of thing, and everything was so new. No one’s stolen my first kiss or anything, but isn’t that normal for male Omegas?”

“Are you trying to say it’s easier for me?” At his side glance, Tifa sighed softly in resignation. “You’re right, it is and Johnny wasn’t the only one. It’s just harder to find an Alpha that fits. It’s not enough to have a lot of options, especially when you know they’re only looking to add to their clans.” Tifa paused and smiled sheepishly. “That sounds like complaining, but you understand, right?”

He nodded lightly in agreement. “I understand, don’t worry. We’ve all got our preferences.”

A sly smirk crossed Tifa’s face. “Dare I ask what yours are?”

The question made his cheeks warm before he could even think much about it. Cloud wasn’t even sure about what he’d wanted before let alone what he wanted in the present. He closed his eyes briefly, letting out a soft noise as he remembered that it didn’t matter in the end.

“Preferably one that doesn’t want a family, I guess. Not like I can give them one,” he sighed softly. “Never thought I’d be sterile both ways.”

Male Omegas couldn’t impregnate anyone as they were sterile in that way. Female Alphas suffered the same fate as they couldn’t be impregnated despite having the equipment for it. One of many facts he’d learnt from people who held prejudices against the anomalies in the Alpha/Omega gene pools.

Tifa put a hand on Cloud’s shoulder, smiling lightly. “I’m sorry, but you know that’s not entirely impossible, don’t you? An Alpha could still find you attractive, and maybe you can still have kids.”

It was true that there wasn’t much scientific basis to go on about whether the SOLDIER process caused sterilization. No one dared to try and prove it right or wrong – until now, though it wasn’t by choice. Cloud furrowed his brow as he thought about it before he looked up at the star-filled sky. The weather was cool, but getting warmer.

This time, he kept the thought to himself and merely shrugged with a light smile. “You could be right. It’s not like I have time to check, though.”

“No, I guess not.” Yawning and stretching, Tifa relaxed and then leaned up against Cloud’s side. “When things settle, do you think you’ll try to find an Alpha?”

“Yeah, probably.”

No, he wouldn’t. Cloud was getting used to lying and hiding his insecurities. There was no way that an Alpha would choose him nor even be interested in him. The time of year and knowing he’d done nothing to prevent his heat cycle told him all he needed to know. Clearly, Tifa thought he’d asked Aerith for the pills to stop the process, and who knew if Aerith even noticed. Zack wouldn’t dare to ask.

“I will, too. It’d be nice to settle down and enjoy life, don’t you think?” Tifa said drowsily.

Taking advantage of her eyes being closed, Cloud made a noise of assent. Even though he knew the truth beyond a shadow of a doubt now, he couldn’t let Tifa worry about him more. It was time to move past foolish crushes and impossible desires.

Now, if only he could stop feeling so hollow.


	7. Terrible Timing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took forever to get this chapter out of me due to the heatwave going through my area and playing the hell out of Final Fantasy XV. Though my mind is also full of FFXV ideas, there's still ideas for FFVII bumping around in my head.
> 
> Forgive me for my consistent meandering writing as of late. I enjoy getting into the thoughts of characters, even if it means constantly harping on angst and such. Like most everything I write these days, going with what pops into my head is easier than going against it.
> 
> Thanks for reading and take care out there. 💕

Oh yeah, Zack remembered the sultry nights in Costa Del Sol. He remembered laying on the beach in the exact chair he was in when he was shipped to the resort. Of course, circumstances were different now and he was simply passing through before going out towards what remained of Corel.

The world had changed so much. He’d barely understood that the mako reactor in Gongaga had blown up despite being beside the damn thing when passing by his hometown. Gongaga had never been a lively place, but now it was almost ruins and was ignored completely by Shinra. Okay, it was ignored by most of the world, but they’d at least felt like a lazy town to spend time in.

It sometimes felt like Cloud was dealing with the changes better than he was. Shinra was far more aggressive than they’d been before, even going so far as to claim ownership over him. Rufus legitimately thought that he and Cloud were his _property_ because of what they’d gone through. The thought alone made his skin crawl.

Everything felt like it was going to hell quickly. With Sephiroth apparently still alive and Jenova able to manifest with his help, it was hard not to think of everything as being bigger than they imagined. What was their end game at this point?

“You’re up late.”

Aerith’s voice made Zack jump slightly, looking over to see her standing beside him with her hands behind her back. He shrugged. “Thinking too much. Used to do this a lot when I was furloughed here all those years ago.”

She giggled, moving to sit down beside the Alpha. “And here I thought you’d say you were thinking of me,” Aerith teased. Leaning against Zack’s shoulder, she hummed thoughtfully. “What _is_ bothering you? Is it about what happened on the ship?”

“Not exactly. I mean, yeah, that was trippy and unexpected. Sephiroth wasn’t a magician last I remember, so having him show up all the time is weird.” He shuddered slightly, the new thoughts leaving him even more unsettled. “I was just thinking about all the things I’ve missed. So many things have changed and being at Junon really made that obvious.”

“Really? Not being in Midgar or visiting the Shinra building?” Aerith asked with raised brows.

He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “The Shinra building never changes, not really. I didn’t get to visit every floor so I saw a lot of things I’d never seen before. But, the feeling in Junon was…different.” Zack furrowed his brow then looked over to Aerith. “Cloud noticed it, too. It felt different than when we were last there. Shinra itself feels different, I guess.”

Shaking her head in disagreement, Aerith smiled sadly. “They haven’t changed at all, your perception of them has. Shinra’s always been the way they are and you know that after everything you’ve been through.”

If that were true, why had he wanted to join SOLDIER so badly? Oh, right, he wanted to be a “hero”, whatever the hell that was. Sephiroth was a “hero” once, but now he spread nothing but despair and pain. What really made a “hero” anyway? He supposed the director had always been right that his dream was impossible to attain.

Eventually, Zack sighed softly, digging his bare feet into the soft sand of the beach. “You’re probably right. I think I hoped that the company I’d been so eager to work for wasn’t so horrible.” Things flashed through his mind and he let out a bitter laugh. “They’re worse than anyone could ever imagine.”

Aerith put her hand on the Alpha’s back. “Eventually, the world will know how terrible they are.”

“Doubt it. Rufus’ father was right that people willingly turn a blind eye to things.”

He frowned deeply, furrowing his brow. Of course, they ignored what they knew was destroying their planet and would eventually destroy them. Zack had been no different, having continued despite knowing what happened with Genesis and Angeal. Sephiroth had practically forced him to finally accept that the company was rotten to its very core.

Zack let out a gentle laugh. “I’m finally starting to understand where Cloud’s coming from. I thought that he was taking it too hard, but he’s right. We’re all nothing to Shinra and the people who work for it.”

For a moment, Zack thought that Aerith had fallen asleep as she’d said nothing. A slight shift told him she was definitely awake, likely collecting her thoughts before speaking. “Not everyone who works for Shinra does it because they believe in them.” She sighed softly. “You had a dream once, and so did Cloud. I wonder how many other people work for Shinra because they can help them reach their dreams?”

The message was clear: hate the company, not all of its employees. Life in Midgar was hard enough and some of those who worked in the illustrious Shinra building lived under the plate. Just as Barret had said, not everyone had the luxury of choice about where to go.

Growling softly in irritation, Zack suddenly flopped backwards on the lounge chair. “How does Cloud spend so much time in his head like this? It’s annoying!” He reached up to run his hands down his face, stopping when he saw Aerith looking at him with a smile. “What?”

“You and Cloud are really close, aren’t you?”

Shrugging a shoulder at the question, he sat back up. “I guess? We were basically friends as soon as we introduced ourselves. It felt nice to have someone else who came from a small town.”

Aerith hummed and leaned in. “Is that all?” His arched brow conveyed his confusion. “He _is_ an Omega, right?”

“Yeah, so? An Alpha and an Omega can’t just be friends?” Zack asked, noting that he sounded defensive even to himself. “I’m a one Omega kind of guy. I can be flirty and find other Omegas attractive, but it’s about more than looks, you know.”

There was something about her knowing smile that threw Zack off, as if she had insight he didn’t. Or, perhaps, insight that he denied frequently enough that it’d become obvious.

“Zack, it’s okay to say you’re falling in love with him,” Aerith said.

He straightened slightly, puffing out his chest with a huff. “What? No, I’m not! We’ve been through a lot together, that’s all.” Zack made a soft noise as the Omega continued to just grin at him. “Aerith, you know I love you. I mean it when I say I’m a one Omega guy. I don’t fall in love with just anyone.”

That made the smile slip from her face and Aerith pressed her lips together slightly. “I’m not jealous, you know. I think it’s funny how many Alphas and Omegas get so caught up on sharing.” Tilting her head thoughtfully, she frowned. “That’s usually something Betas do, isn’t it?”

“And some Alphas!” Zack proclaimed.

Really, he had no idea why he was denying it so much. Aerith was always true to her word and would gladly share the same space with Cloud. Perhaps he was simply worried what it really meant about him. Did it mean he’d fall in love again and again, stretching himself thin until he was one of _those_ Alphas. He’d never understood how anyone could handle such a large clan.

“It’s strange. I had no idea that Cloud was an Omega until he told me,” Aerith admitted. “I’ve known a couple of male Omegas and they were both pretty prickly, but I could tell what they were. Cloud just doesn’t even register, does he?”

It’d been so long since Zack relied on scent to identify what Cloud was that he hadn’t noticed. He shook his head. “It’s probably the mako in his system. They say it makes Omegas sterile, so that’s likely why he’s lost his Omega smell.”

That was definitely also why Cloud had become so different. Zack couldn’t begin to imagine what it was like, losing what was part of himself. If he lost the Alpha part, what would he be like? Granted, he didn’t always act like an Alpha, but he’d never seen the appeal of being a big, bad wolf. He’d almost taken it as a compliment when Angeal called him a puppy.

A hand on his shoulder made Zack look over. Aerith had lost her playfulness and looked oddly sad. “Is that why you’re not admitting your feelings to yourself?”

She always knew how to get down to the root of a problem. “I wish you could’ve known him before Nibelheim. He was kind of shy sometimes, but he had such a bright smile. His eyes were always blue, just not the same mako-blue they are now.” Zack let out a breath then laughed softly. “If things were different, maybe I’d be honest with him. I don’t know if he’d even accept an Alpha now.”

“He seems lost, like he doesn’t know who he is. You could help him find that again, you know.” Aerith leaned against Zack again, turning her face up to his. “You shouldn’t be so surprised you fell in love with him, too. You’re a big softie.”

“There’s a reason Angeal always called me a puppy,” Zack said, flashing her a grin. “Weird for an Alpha, but I don’t want to be a jerk.” Pausing, he let out a breath through his nose. “Now’s definitely not the time for courting, anyway. It’d be the strangest courting I’ve ever heard of while we’re trying to take down an evil corporation and find someone who’s trying to take over the world.”

Laughing gently, Aerith shrugged. “I think it would suit you. You courted me by making me flower carts, if you remember.”

“That was _not_ just courting you,” Zack grumped. “I wanted to help you since you looked so enthusiastic when I said you should be selling those flowers.” When she gave him a look of disbelief, he grimaced slightly. “Not just courting, but it helped, right?”

“I’m right here, aren’t I?” she said, nudging Zack’s side.

Oh, _now_ was not the time for his Alpha instincts to rear their head. Yet, that they did and he let out a soft growl, contenting himself with leaning in for a kiss. Aerith chased after him for another as he pulled away and he smirked, laughing softly into the contact. “Feeling the endless romance of the nighttime sea in Costa del Sol?” he teased.

Humming lightly, Aerith looked away sheepishly. “Maybe. We really shouldn’t, especially after just talking about who else you love.”

Well, that broke the spell pretty effectively. “Aerith, let’s not go down that road. Cloud’s not even interested in that sort of thing and he sure hasn’t said anything to me. Look at how he reacted when he got all dressed up in Wall Market.”

The memory was amusing, even if it’d been confusing at the time. Cloud had looked good in the dress, though Zack knew now that wasn’t exactly a compliment. There was no safe way to admit that he thought Cloud was attractive no matter what he wore – except maybe Shinra’s infantry outfit. All too often, the Alpha had to catch himself and stop admiring Cloud when he walked behind him.

But it was about _more_ than attraction. Underneath the new hard exterior, Cloud had once been a caring, sweet guy who was just starting to find his footing. His hometown had thought him “odd”, but he found camaraderie in Shinra’s infantry with other male Omegas. By the time Zack had met him, he was starting to find his confidence.

“Okay, say I do love him. Doesn’t that worry you? I don’t want to be the Alpha that’s got so many Omegas that he can’t keep track of them all,” Zack muttered, making a face.

“Oh, Zack, I don’t think you fall in love that easily. Something’s drawn you to both of us,” Aerith said. “You’re more worried than I am about having more than one Omega with you.”

It was true that he’d met Omegas like Aerith and Cloud yet didn’t feel the same connection with them. There was surface-level attraction and then there was a deeper, more intimate attraction that came with knowing a person. Some Alphas didn’t care about the latter, but Zack was definitely not one of them. Whatever had attracted him to the two he couldn’t exactly pinpoint, but he knew he loved them all the same.

Letting out a gentle noise, Zack shifted slightly. “It doesn’t matter right now. We’ve got so much to deal with that Cloud would think I’d lost my mind if I told him.”

Aerith sighed heavily and shook her head. “You’re never going to tell him, are you?”

The Alpha shrugged quickly, tilting his head to rest on Aerith’s. “Who knows. I didn’t have to tell you I loved you at all, you and I just clicked,” Zack murmured. “It’s not the same with him. I know why it is, but that just makes it harder to think of going for it.”

Cloud was a tangled web of his upbringing and his past. It didn’t take a mind reader to know that the blonde likely wasn’t even ready for a relationship. Since reconnecting with Aerith, Zack hadn’t been focusing anywhere near as much on Cloud. That didn’t exactly increase his chances of connecting with the other Omega, but he didn’t think his chances were very high on that front to begin with.

“He’s not ready for that kind of thing,” Zack said finally. “Until he is, I’m keeping it to myself. Which means no interference.”

Pressing her lips together briefly, Aerith finally let out a gentle laugh. “Okay, I understand. You know me too well already.”

Of _course_ she would try to interfere because she liked to see people she loved happy. Her interference would only hinder progress instead of helping. Even if Cloud didn’t want to admit it, he was as approachable as a pool of lava. That hadn’t always been the case, as Zack had already said before. Aerith was right that Cloud seemed lost, but Zack didn’t feel like he was the one the other needed at the moment to find himself.

“Thank you,” Zack said quietly. He grimaced and let out a soft breath. “Thanks for not freaking out about it. I didn’t know I was being so obvious.”

“Probably only to me because I’ve been paying attention. But,” she smiled apologetically before going on, “if you keep going like this, you’re going to make it obvious to everyone.”

Including the one he was admiring. There was no telling how Cloud would feel if he found out. Zack could only imagine the lecture he’d get about timing and circumstances. Like he wasn’t aware that he had the worst timing ever and he didn’t chastise himself every time he thought about it. Zack knew he wasn’t the most serious guy out there, but he needed to focus far more than he was.

Sighing and leaning back with a grunt, Zack nodded. “Yeah, you’re right, as usual. I bet he’d chew my head off if he found out.” He looked over as he heard Aerith giggle at the thought. “Oh, I’m glad that’s so amusing to you.”

“Oh, don’t be so serious! It doesn’t suit you at all.”

Maybe it didn’t, but he’d learned when he needed to be serious and when not to. Here, on the beach with Aerith, she needed Zack to be who he really was. Cloud needed him to pay attention since the poor Omega had somehow managed to situate himself as the leader of their ragtag group. It was surprising to see him take command despite the fact that Zack knew him as one who wasn’t really someone who usually took charge.

“I can’t always be a clown, you know. Someone would get really tired of me and then put their foot up my ass,” Zack sighed over-dramatically. “And that’s if I’m lucky. That ‘someone’ would be Barret and I think I’d get off lightly if he just kicked me.”

“You’re worrying way too much for the Zack I know.” Aerith reached up, putting a hand on his forehead. “Hmm, you don’t feel warm and you look like him. Are you an imposter?”

Reaching up with a hand, Zack put it around her wrist and dragged her hand down to his lips. He pressed a soft kiss to her palm. “Okay, okay, I get it. I need to stop channeling Cloud and focus on the task at hand.”

“That’s better. You also need some sleep or they’re all going to wonder how much baggage you have under your eyes,” Aerith said, grinning ever so slightly. “I’m sure I’m not the only one who looks at those eyes of yours.”

“Oh, no doubt! I’m the best looking one out of all of us,” he said, flashing Aerith a toothy grin. “Let’s just stay out here a little longer and enjoy the night.”

As she hummed and settled against him, Zack let out a soft breath. Whatever happened, he needed to keep looking forward. Once things settled – if they ever did – then perhaps he could consider making his feelings clear.

One day, he hoped that he could see Cloud’s bright smile once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Predictable, I'm sure, but the thought wouldn't leave me when I started going through everything FF7 yet again. I currently have a few points in mind I'd like to explore but have not yet written.
> 
> I am 100% open for any suggestions of game points you'd like to see. Naturally, my fool mind will take it wherever it wants to, but anyone who's read my stuff by now knows that. In short, I am indeed accepting prompts. Just drop them in the comments!
> 
> I should also mention that my mind is a very odd amalgamation of original FF7, Crisis Core, Advent Children, (a tiny bit of) Before Crisis, and Remake canons. You'll see a lot of crossover in anything I write. Keep that in mind!


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